Stove Fuel Physics

[newhaul]

Originally Posted by TeddyDiver

As do I for most cooking, but it's not a choice to boil water or for a soup IMHO
becouse you got grease it before and after use.

BR Teddy

I don't gease my tea kettle at all and my other pans are seasoned and don't need to be greased after seasoning. I have one sauce pan for soups that is porcelain coated. Why would a person grease a pan after use just wash in hot water and dry it before you put it away.

[LakeSuperior]

Originally Posted by Stu Jackson

Stu, you are completely correct in noting the correct use of the term.

That said, I have been an HVAC engineer for the past 45 years and commonly BTU/hour (BTU PER hour) is commonly used as a shorthand as BTUh.

A BTU/hour is 0.2930 watts or 0.0003929 horsepower, a measure of power. Power is the rate at which work is done or the heat rate hence the unit of time in the denominator.

A BTU is a measure of energy, work, heat. A BTU is 1055 joules. Work is the total change in kinetic energy.

What does this have to do with boiling water one might ask. The total amount of heat transferred to the water to make it boil is X BTU's.

The instantaneous rate at which the heat is transferred to the water, Y BTU/hr, is variable depending on the heat transfer equations. The equations account for the increasing water temperature at each instant in time due to the convection and radiation transfer of heat to the pot.

The burner rating is the rate at which the heat can be supplied or generated at an instant in time, BTU/hr. Bigger burner or hotter flame the BTU's/hr are greater.

At an instant in time only part of burner heat goes to actually heating the water in the pot. The remainder heats the metal parts, air, and via radiation, the surrounding environment (think thermal light bulb shaped like the burner.)

Summary: Power, BTU's per unit time is the rate at which heat, BTU's, are supplied by the burner.

[TeddyDiver]

Originally Posted by newhaul

I don't gease my tea kettle at all and my other pans are seasoned and don't need to be greased after seasoning. I have one sauce pan for soups that is porcelain coated. Why would a person grease a pan after use just wash in hot water and dry it before you put it away.

Well, I won't argue with someone with a cast-iron-tea-pot

[thinwater]

Originally Posted by StuM

BTU/gal

Gasoline: 124,000
Kerosene: 135,000

(Diesel: 139,000. While not a boat stove, I can remember the use of diesel drip cookers in military field kitchens.)

Just sayin'

Edit: A 139,000 BTU/gal marine stove: Dickinson Pacific Diesel Marine Stove with Oven

Has anyone noted that the BTU values are higher heating values (HHV). That means the steam generated in combustion must be condensed back into water, which is not theoretically possible on the stove (it is done in furnaces). The actual (lower heating value) is about 7-8% lower. The HHV is really a cheat in most applications.

[thinwater]

How about pot skirts.

Maximum Rocket Stove Efficiency: Use a Pot Skirt – EcoZoom

Very simple, effective, and you can easily make your own with some tin and a few rivets or short screws. Though I do not use this in the galley, I use a home-made version on the grill all the time to break the wind (my wife does't like the smell of cooking crabs in the cabin, and in the summer there is also the issue of heat).

[Snowpetrel]

^^ 20% efficiency boast is pretty good for such a simple device. Goes to show there's lots of room to improve a kettle.

Sent from my HTC_0PCV2 using Cruisers Sailing Forum mobile app

[ALAIN97133]

Hi Sailors ! I bought a fresh water Ericson 34 on Lake Michigan & motor-sailed it to the West Indies. When I left Manistee, I filled up both natural gas bottle but now I have to change to Propane or Butane since the closest CNG fill up station is in ... Florida I'd like to keep the stove & change only the 2 burners + oven burner.
Any suggestion where should I look for replacement burners ??? Thanks for your help PS: I think Seaward Stove went under many years ago